Nitra-Guard and cheato. Does it work?

One week of heavy feeding (1-2 cubes per day) in a heavily stocked tank (for its size) in an immature system
the following went in a week and a half ago
250ml of nitra guard
20cmx20cm flat bunch of cheato
over half of my 'live rock' was only base rock.
before cheato and nitra guard went in (one week ago) nitrate levels where around 20 (API)
now the results
  
Will update every week for a while  

Excellent stuff mate, I just got some nitra guard to set up in a reactor i am making from others supposed success with nitra guard and I am quite interested to see what your findings are on this.
I have had chaeto for a long time, so the nitra guard is all that is in question for me.

Liquidg the results look promising although this isn't a replacement for water changes for me as trace elements are depleted, water changing is the only way of replenishment. However after the recent rains it may be some time! This is purely to provide the best conditions for the inhabitants.

One thing if it's in a reactor i assume you already know that high flow oxygenated water is key. Which contradicts the usual method of bacteria in anaerobic areas with slow flow utilising those bacteria turning nitrates into nitrogen. But now where using a forum of carbon dosing for bacteria in the water column that is ultimately skimmed out? I believe this method of reducing nitrates works a hell of alot faster than anaerobic could ever come close to.

For any newbies I'm no expert however if you want this product to work research "the redfield ratio". You need some phosphates for This to work. If your water is deprived of phosphate then there is a titanium version.

Oh and I knew cheato works. One of the most poular fuge algea there is. This is more of a topic of both working in unison together. All seams goo so far. Plenty of growth with the cheato and the nitra guard is starting to reduce in size slightly.

A question though liquid, with the amount of feedings you do (be it multiple and small throughout the day) how fast does your cheato grow? I. E. How much would you harvest a week? Mine is going insane. Which I can assume is from a healthy aerobic colony converting nutrients. And strong lighting.

I have the chaeto in the tubs, its not connected with my main system at all and with that bio filter it eliminates nitrates as well. With my main bio system it is impossible to have nitrates show on a test. I just use our endemic racemosa on that system for all toxin and nutrient importing. I am curious though about bio cubes in relation to phos, thats all.
I have finished mucking around with all my experiments and I am nearly finished making my three stage reactor like the ones I would build in the 80s and will hook up a small skimmer with it over the coming months.
Then back to dosing and the usual trendy stuff like I did when I first started reef keeping along with my bio system and its all good.
I am just curious about phos with the cubes because once i hook up everything off my main system, it will be over loaded, that's why I am going back to using a skimmer and a phos,carbon etc reactor.
I started all this experimentation on how best to use what algae in 99 and I am now finished!

Hi ya

Just a question as I'm curious and it may answer your question about growth rate - is your Chaeto before or after your Nitraguard - keeping in mind the application and purpose of both.........

Both went in at the same time. Its more of a question about will it grow at a rate of nutrient supply or is a strong supply of nutrients needed as it grows. Eg if the nitra guard is working too well at reducing nitrates, will the cheato die off? (not completely as released nutrients will provide food)

I'm mainly trying to find out if these two forms of nutrients reduction can work in unison.

Cheers for the input   

An easier way of understanding my rambling. Can cheato survive purely off photosynthesis and not rely of nutrients in the water column?

Yes it can!
There is always something for it to exist on if any waste producing life exists somewhere and achieve near none, to slow growth.
It is a very resilient non invasive algae form and closely related to blue green algae.

Question answered then! It's incredible how fast the cheato growth was when I first started this post. I could tell there was significant Daily growth. Now I can hardly tell if it's growing or not. I Tested params this morning and still zero nitrates however maybe 0.1 phosphates.

I feed ocean nutrition; 1/2 cube enriched brine, 1 cube rotifers and 1/2 cube mysis daily in a 2.5ft system. Not bad I reckon

Nitrates are still zero. I have a pick and I was comparing it to the first and it is even a more pale yellow. Performed two tests just to make sure. I have added a filter sock to my sump too. Grossed up within two days so it looks like my flow in the display is carrying the muck into the overflow on its way to the sump.

Thanks to the recent heavy rains I've been unable to source clean water and haven't performed a water change since the tanks been up! Bi-daily testing of kh, all, calcium, nitrite/ate, phos all have been sweet.

Hey Noddy, where did you source your Nitra-Guard from. Trying to find the cheapest supplier

I also noticed Guppy's is selling a product to recharge it....curious on that.

I am like LiquidG....my tank doesn't show readings of nitrate....but it is obvious from hair algae and other things that they are all feeding off them.

Makes it a pain if your readings are always undetected to know how bad the nitrate/phos issue is. Even after I remove the algae off the back wall....the levels don't show up, so my sump must do a wonderful job compensating.

I do have a crap of skimming come off though, which is why I think this product might help the system.

If it in a bag underneath the return to sump (from skimmer)....would that be sufficient "air" towards the product?

I'm pretty sure nitraguard can't be recharged. From my understanding it acts as a source of carbon for bacteria in the water column to consume nitrates and a little phosphate in a ratio called the redfield ratio. Then the bacteria is exported via the skimmer. As nitraguard is depleted it lliterally melts away slowly as the carbon is used up.

I can see there's holes all through the nitraguard and they're getting larger.

Skimmer outlet is ideal. That's where I have mine suspended.

100% reef safe have 1000ml for $60 thats really cheap. Pet city was about $80.Aquariums alive in Nerang can order it in for about $20 for 250ml

Thanks Noddy

Guys hair alga is reliant on varied organics and organic and inorganic phos plus light, not nitrates!
Diatoms are reliant on nitrates and silica as well.

True liquid. That's why I have 4x15w led pendants and a red and blue led plant grow light on a 18hour cycle in my sump with live rock. Plenty of hair algea there! It provides a better habitat with the lighting than my display tank to grow cheato and hair algea in abundance   

That's what I view a sump as: an area to provide better conditions for anything you don't want in my display tank.

And the pods love it!

I couldn’t agree more, I do not rely on anything in my tanks for any kind of bio filtering or nutrient importation. Its all remote!

Hmmmm everywhere I read it was feeding off nitrates and once your cheato is flourishing (I had no fuge for a stage).....it absorbs the excess and competes....reducing hair algae.

That does seem to have worked to a degree, with only trace amounts on rocks and back wall.....not the forest I had before.

Does this mean the cheato was also absorbing phos?

Yes, not a great phos reducer, but it does some for sure.

I would be nervous of having hair algae in any chamber near the return pump, as once a small piece gets back to display....off it goes again multiplying!

Same here aterese, I just use my multiple caulerpa with manly one dominant type.I do use chaeto in my tubs but it doesn't last long in either displays, it gets chewed up in no time in them, the same goes for my racemosa.

The lighting in my sump is overkill and tailored to growing algea with plenty of red blue and white leds set on long illumination hours.

As my tank was cycling, I didn't have the sump light built so all the usual algea and cyano was very quickly overtaking the rock and glass. I was nearly tempted to bleach the whole lot and start again! Now because conditions are more favourable in the sump, I get very Very minimal algea in the display tank. So much so, I move live rock from the sump up to the main tank for my lavender tang to munch out on.

Any algea that grows on the sumps walls I scrape off and 'export' it to the bin. Some even gets sucked up by the return pump and into the main tank. I'm not worried at all

Your sump is so healthy Noddy it will out compete any growth starting in the display by the sounds of it

That's the plan. Lots of light is key to growing cheato/algea. Yes they need nutrients but that's only half the equation. Alot of people throw a compact fluoro above the sump. Go with high power leds in red blue white on a long cycle and your sweet.

There's so many pods breading I'm thinking of removing one side of the door for the cabinet and showing off the refugium side with a pair of seahorses perhaps? Or a mandarin goby.

One way I provide a breading habitat for the pods is to place mounds of bio noodles in mesh bags. Every now and then I take a mound and shake it next to the return pump to feed the main tank. All 15 odd shrimp flock to the outlet feasting. Pretty funny to watch them all crammed in one little spot